Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants also known as lycopods or lycophytes. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching stems bearing simple leaves called microphylls and reproduce by means of spores borne in sporangia on the sides of the stems at the bases of the leaves. Although living species are small, during the Carboniferous, extinct tree-like forms (Lepidodendrales) formed huge forests that dominated the landscape and contributed to coal deposits.
The Lycopodiaceae are an old family of vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses and firmosses, comprising 16 accepted genera and about 400 known species. This family originated about 380 million years ago in the early Devonian, though the diversity within the family has been much more recent. "Wolf foot" is another common name for this family due to the resemblance of either the roots or branch tips to a wolf's paw.
Lycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines or creeping cedars, in the family Lycopodiaceae. Two very different circumscriptions of the genus are in use. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, Lycopodium is one of nine genera in the subfamily Lycopodioideae, and has from nine to 15 species. In other classifications, the genus is equivalent to the whole of the subfamily, since it includes all of the other genera. More than 40 species are accepted.
A sporophyll is a leaf that bears sporangia. Both microphylls and megaphylls can be sporophylls. In heterosporous plants, sporophylls bear either megasporangia and thus are called megasporophylls, or microsporangia and are called microsporophylls. The overlap of the prefixes and roots makes these terms a particularly confusing subset of botanical nomenclature.
Lycopodium clavatum is the most widespread species in the genus Lycopodium in the clubmoss family.
Lycopodiella is a genus in the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus members are commonly called bog clubmosses, describing their wetland habitat. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with centers of diversity in the tropical New World and New Guinea. In the past, the genus was often incorporated within the related genus Lycopodium, but was segregated in 1964. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, Lycopodiella is placed in the subfamily Lycopodielloideae, along with three other genera. In this circumscription, the genus has about 15 species. Other sources use a wider circumscription, in which the genus is equivalent to the Lycopodielloideae of PPG I, in which case about 40 species and hybrids are accepted.
Ground pine or ground-pine may refer to:
A strobilus is a structure present on many land plant species consisting of sporangia-bearing structures densely aggregated along a stem. Strobili are often called cones, but some botanists restrict the use of the term cone to the woody seed strobili of conifers. Strobili are characterized by a central axis surrounded by spirally arranged or decussate structures that may be modified leaves or modified stems.
Phlegmariurus phlegmaria, synonym Huperzia phlegmaria, commonly known as either coarse tassel fern or common tassel fern, is an epiphytic species native to rainforests in Madagascar, some islands in the Indian Ocean, Asia, Australasia and many Pacific Islands. Phlegmariurus phlegmaria is commonly found in moist forests and rainforests at high altitudes, in and amongst mosses and other epiphytes. Members of the order Lycopodiales are commonly referred to as clubmosses.
Selaginella apoda, commonly known as meadow spikemoss, is a perennial lycophyte native to much of the eastern United States and parts of northeastern Mexico. The life cycle is the shortest of the genus Selaginella, as well as one of the shortest among the lycophytes. Selaginella apoda is found primarily in damp soils in habitats such as swamps, wet fields, open woods and along stream banks. Selaginella apoda presents the potential for case studies involving the plant's adaptability to environmental toxins. A lowland plant, it has only been recorded at elevations below 100 meters. It is closely related to Selaginella eclipes and S. ludoviciana, with both of which it has been reported to form hybrids. This group is characterized by relatively flat strobili and large megasporophylls which occur in the same plane as the lateral leaves.
Diphasiastrum complanatum, common names groundcedar, creeping jenny, or northern running-pine, is a species of clubmoss native to dry coniferous forests in colder northerly parts of the world. Under the original name Lycopodium complanatum, this was an inclusive superspecies that included a number of other species now known to be biologically separate. This plant is an evergreen, perennial pteridophyte. The spores are produced June to September.
Dendrolycopodium dendroideum, synonym Lycopodium dendroideum, known as tree groundpine, is a North American species of clubmoss. It is part of a complex of species colloquially known as groundpine, which taxa were formerly lumped into the species Lycopodium obscurum. The species is native to Russia and also to the colder parts of North America. The genus Dendrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.
Diphasiastrum digitatum is known as groundcedar, running cedar or crowsfoot, along with other members of its genus, but the common name fan clubmoss can be used to refer to it specifically. It is the most common species of Diphasiastrum in North America. It is a type of plant known as a clubmoss, which is within one of the three main divisions of living vascular plants. It was formerly included in the superspecies Diphasiastrum complanatum. For many years, this species was known as Lycopodium flabelliforme or Lycopodium digitatum.
Diplazium australe, commonly known as the Austral lady fern, is a small fern occurring in eastern Australia, New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The habitat is moist shaded areas, often occurring in rainforest.
Diphasiastrum alpinum, the alpine clubmoss, is a species of clubmoss. This plant is a glaucous scale-leaved perennial pteridophyte. In Finland, the spores are produced June to September. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his Flora Lapponica, 1737, from specimens obtained in Finland.
Diphasiastrum tristachyum, commonly known as blue clubmoss, blue ground-cedar, ground pine, deep-rooted running-pine or ground cedar, is a North American and Eurasian species of clubmoss. In North America, it has been found from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south as far as Georgia and Alabama. In Eurasia, it ranges from southern Norway and Sweden south to France and Italy and it also occurs in the Caucasus.
Dendrolycopodium hickeyi known as Hickey's tree club-moss or Pennsylvania clubmoss, is a North American species of clubmoss in the family Lycopodiaceae. It is native to eastern and Central Canada and the eastern and north-central United States. The genus Dendrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in a larger Lycopodium.
Lycopodiella alopecuroides, the foxtail clubmoss, is a species of perennial vascular plant in the club-moss family, Lycopodiaceae. It is commonly found along the Atlantic seaboard and has been recently been discovered in the state of Maine. The family, Lycopodiaceae contains nearly 15 genera and about 375 species
Lycopodioideae is a subfamily in the family Lycopodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. It is equivalent to a broad circumscription of the genus Lycopodium in other classifications. Like all lycophytes, members of the Lycopodioideae reproduce by spores. The oldest fossils of modern members of the subfamily date to the Early Cretaceous.
Lycopodielloideae is a subfamily in the family Lycopodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. It is equivalent to a broad circumscription of the genus Lycopodiella in other classifications. Like all lycophytes, members of the Lycopodielloideae are vascular plants that reproduce by spores.
